They have arrived at the destination for the finals of Conner's tournament. The finalists will be dueling it out at the top of a tower. The matches have also been decided. It will be Houki vs. Meldrick in the first one and Ichika vs. Conner in the second. Of course, Senshi and the others don't really like that Houki is going up against a madman, but she is determined to beat him and get Hector back.
"Follow us and we'll head straight to the arena!" Mila said as she showed the way to the dueling field.
"Aren't Tatenashi and Meldrick's little goon coming?" Rin said as she noticed they were staying behind.
"Well, we do need someone to watch over Hector for when he awakes. As for the other one, I guess he just isn't interested." Cecilia said. Ignoring that, everyone just kept moving and went inside the tower.
"Wow! Look at this place!" Charlotte said as she was amazed by the tower. It looked highly advance in technology.
"This way!" Mila said as she hopped in a large elevator. Everyone climbed inside and rode the elevator straight to the top of the tower. Once they made it to the top, they all climbed out and made their way to the arena. They arrived outside and stood at the very roof of it.
"Look at that view..." Rin said. "This is a lot higher up than I thought."
"Forget the view. It's only the ocean." Conner said. "The more interesting view will be the dueling that goes on."
"If our finalists will please step forward, we can begin." Tate said. "Our first duel will be between Houki Shinonono and Meldrick!" The two duelists was ready to go as they both walked on the field. The finals will soon begin and this was being broadcast all around for many to see. Senshi watched closely as he and Ichika were nervous on what was going to happen to Houki.
'I don't like this. We should have tried harder to talk Houki out of this.' Ichika spoke with Senshi.
'There's nothing much we could have done.' Senshi thought. 'Houki is determined to face Meldrick and rescue Hector from the shadows. We can only hope that she does have what it takes to defeat him.'
"The finals of the Dueling City Tournament is now about to begin!" Tate announced as this was being broadcast. "Many have dueled their way, but only four are left standing! Soon, a champion will be named! The first duel is now about to begin!" The two of them stood facing each other. Houki had a strong look of determination while Meldrick had a look of amusement.
"You've got anything you want to say to me before we begin?" Meldrick questioned.
"Just this." Houki said as she was getting more and more anxious, more and more determined, as she gripped her hand and it trembled with how she was feeling. "I swear I'm going to beat you and save Hector."
"You seem to care an awful lot about him." Meldrick said. "I can't wait to see the look of despair on your face when you end up failing. Once I defeat you, I'm going for Orimura next."
"Not happening!" Houki claimed. "You're not going anywhere near him, and I'm going to save Hector! Enough talk! Let's do this!" She was ready to go and Meldrick was ready to destroy her.
"Just one more thing before we begin." Meldrick said as he took his gauntlet and had dark clouds forming around the arena. They all know what this is. It was the same thing that Meldrick did when he dueled against Hector. That means this duel is going to be for keeps. "If rescuing your friend is so important, you have to be willing to risk what he risked." She had a feeling this would happen, but she's not going to let this scare her away.
"Not this again." Charlotte said.
"This is not good, but there is really nothing we can do." Laura said. None of Houki's friends liked this, but all they can do is hope that Houki does win and get out of this in one piece.
"Now, let the first match of the semi-finals begin!" Tate announced as they activated their duel disks.
"Let's duel!" They both said as they were beginning. They activated their duel disks and gained 4000LP. Houki's chance to save Hector is here, but can she really pull it off.
"I think I'll be the one to start this!" Meldrick said as he took the first turn. "Just my luck. I'm going to start things off by activating Inner Power! As long as this card remains on the field, I can treat my Gemini monsters as effect monsters while they remain on the field. Next, I'll summon Dark Valkyria to the field!" He summoned out his monster as it rose up with 1800atk points. When he did summon it, they all noticed something strange. There was a glowing thread that connected Meldrick to his monster.
"What's that thread about?" Houki questioned.
"I'm so glad you noticed. This little game will be a little different than how it went with your friend." Meldrick claimed. "This thread connects us to our monsters. Now, whenever they are attacked, we will lose more and more of our energy."
"Our energy?!" Houki questioned as that didn't sound good.
"That's right." Meldrick claimed. "The more that are monsters are destroyed, the more energy we will lose. I wonder which will fade first. Will it be your life points or will you simply run out of strength before that?"
"Don't underestimate me, you freak!" Houki said as she wasn't going to back down.
"This is insane! Houki could end up losing more than life points in this duel!" Rin said.
"Don't underestimate her. Houki is a lot stronger. The truth is that she's one of the strongest girls there is." Senshi said as he was upholding his belief that she would win.
"Thanks to Inner Power, Dark Valkyria's power is awakened!" Meldrick said. "I can now place one counter on her! For every counter she has, she gains 300atk points!" One counter was placed on his monster and her attack points increased to 2100. "I'll place one card facedown and that ends my turn."
"Not good. Not only did he increase Dark Valkyria's attack points, but he can just remove that counter next turn and destroy one of Houki's cards." Senshi said.
"Having one of her monsters destroyed is the last thing she needs." Charlotte said as it was already looking grim for Houki.
"My turn!" Houki said as she drew her card and got ready to do whatever it takes to win this. 'Just hold on, Hector. I'll get you out of there.' She thought as she kept thinking on what she's fighting for. "Since you're the only one with monsters on the field, I can special summon Twin Sacred Blade to the field!" She began by summoning out her samurai that carried twin blades that shined like gold and had 2000atk points. "The problem when summoning him like this is that he loses all of his attack points." His attack points dropped all the way to zero, but she wasn't worried about that. When he was summoned, a thread connected him to Houki as well. 'Yikes. I can actually feel this thread making its way inside me. That's not good. I've got to be careful.' She thought as she's getting familiar with the kind of danger she's in now. "Twin Sacred Sword has another ability. It counts as two monsters when I use it for a tribute summon. That's why I'll release him to summon Armored Samurai Susanoo!" She released her monster and summoned out a brand new monster. It was a fully armored samurai in dark armor and the face was painted to resemble an oni, and was a giant. It also had 2700atk points.
"Wow! Houki summoned an incredibly powerful monster right on her first turn!" Rin said.
"If she keeps that up, she's sure to take Meldrick down quickly." Laura said as that was what they all wanted.
"Next, I'm going to activate Fusion Sword Mursasame Blade!" Houki said. "This will give Susanoo an extra 800atk points." Susanoo was given a new blade and its power increased to 3500. "There's more. When Armored Samurai Susanoo is equipped with a card, he can deal damage to a total of 800LP." Her samurai swung its sword and unleashed an attack with Meldrick getting blasted and his life points dropped to 3200. "Susanoo, attack now! Take down his Dark Valkyria! Strike with Storm Severing!" Susanoo gathered power around his blade and swung it straight down. It slashed right through Dark Valkyria and destroyed her in one strike with Meldrick's life points dropping to 1800. His destroyed monster also caused much of his energy to drain out of him. The sudden lost caused him to shake, but he held up as best as he could.
"Oh yeha! Houki already eliminated more than half of Meldrick's life points!" Rin cheered.
"Splendid, Houki! Keep up the good work!" Cecilia cheered.
"Awesome! Houki already took the lead in this duel!" Mila said as she too was on her side.
"It's far too soon to celebrate." Conner said. "I highly doubt a duelist on Meldrick's caliber would allow himself to be defeated so easily."
"If you say so, but I'll be honest with you about something. I'm actually hoping that Houki wins this duel." Mila admitted. "That Meldrick gives me the creeps. Not to mention all that other horrible stuff he's done up until now. I'm hoping he's taken down soon." 'I'm also worried with these dark clouds. Conner might not believe in some of the crazy stuff that has happened, but there's certainly something weird going on. I never forgot what happened with Peggrin, so maybe all this magic stuff is not as crazy as it all seems. Just look at what happened to Hector, not to mention how he forced Houki to duel Ichika.' She thought as she was turning into a believer. Houki was playing her next move as she had two cards ready.
'Sakuretsu Armor and Deceiving Second Trap...' Houki thought. 'With these two, I'll be able to take two of his monsters out with this. Sakuretsu Armor will destroy a monster he attacks with. With Deceiving Second Trap, I'll be able to copy Sakuretsu Armor's effects again.' "I place two cards facedown and that ends my turn."
"My turn!" Meldrick said as he drew his next card, but he wasn't foolish. He knows both of those cards are traps for him. "I'll begin my turn by playing my trap card! I activate A Rival Appears! This trap allows me to summon a monster that's the same level as a monster on your field! Your Armored samurai Susanoo is level eight, which means I can summon a level eight monster, and I have just the one! I summon out Darkstorm Dragon!" He summoned out a new monster. A twister emerged on the field and a dragon-like creature emerged out of the field with it having 2700atk points.
"This doesn't look good." Senshi said.
"Why? What does that thing do?" Charlotte questioned.
"I activate Darkstorm Dragon's ability! By sending one face-up spell or trap card to the graveyard, I can destroy all spell and traps on the field!" Meldrick said as he got rid of Inner Power. When that happened, his dragon unleashed storm-like winds that blew against the field.
"Nice try, but my equip spell can't be destroyed as long as it's equipped to a monster!" Houki said as she resisted the winds. Her spell might have been spared, but both of her trap cards were destroyed.
"Why would Meldrick get rid of a powerful card like his spell like that?" Rin questioned.
"He wouldn't unless he has something in mind." Senshi said as he knows Meldrick is plotting something.
"How right you are. I play my Reservation Renewal spell! This spell card allows me to take any spell or trap from my graveyard and add it to my hand. That means I'm taking Inner Power back." Meldrick said. "In exchange, we both get to draw two cards." He took his card from his graveyard back and the two of them drew two cards.
"What are you plotting?" Houki said as she knows Meldrick has something else planned for her.
"You'll see soon enough. The fun is just starting." Meldrick claimed. The duel is only beginning. It had a strong start, but that could end up being the problem given the circumstances. Who will be the one that survives it?